Mark Colby

Mark Colby (born March 18 1949 in Brooklyn – August 31, 2020) was an American jazz musician (tenor and soprano saxophone, also clarinet and vocals).

Mark Steven Colby came from a musical family; his father was a professional drummer who played with Benny Goodman for a time in the 1940s. At the age of eight, Mark received a clarinet and lessons from Bill Schlagel. He switched to the saxophone when he was eleven, and began listening to records of bebop, cool jazz and hard bop. In 1962 his family moved to Miami, where he began performing professionally at the age of 14. In Miami Beach he had the opportunity to play shows with popular acts including Tony Bennett, Sonny and Cher, Bill Cosby , Ann-Margret and Sammy Davis Jr.As a high school student, he studied with James Casale (the co-author of the textbook Patterns for Jazz, with Jerry Coker). After high school, Mark attended the University of Miami and studied in Jerry Coker’s jazz major. At 16 he was playing with Ira Sullivan. During his time as a fellow at the University of Miami, fellow students included Pat Metheny, Mark Egan, Jaco Pastorius and Danny Gottlieb.

In the following years Colby worked i.a. with Gerry Mulligan , during his studies he worked on recordings of musicians such as Dr. John, Wilson Pickett, Bill Wyman and The Bee Gees with. After earning his master’s degree in jazz, he became a member of Maynard Ferguson ‘s orchestra. After three albums and three years of touring as a soloist and musical director, he joined Bob James and became a member of the James Gang . In 1977 he recorded his debut album , Serpentine Fire , which featured musicians such as Jon Faddis , Hiram Bullock , Steve Khan ,Eric Gale and Steve Gadd were involved. The follow-up album One Good Turn (1979) also featured Steve Jordan and Mike Mainieri.

In 1980 Colby moved to Chicago and worked as a session musician in the following years, e.g. for jingles. He also continued to play jazz gigs and record with the likes of Ramsey Lewis and Chuck Mangione. In 1983 he began teaching jazz saxophone at DePaul University. In 1998 he transferred to Elmhurst College. In the field of jazz, according to Tom Lord , he was involved in 57 recording sessions between 1973 and 2018, most recently with Roberto Magris. https://markcolby.com/